Our Latest Adventure

I am a frequent reader of several blogs. Two of them, The Frugal Girl and Simply Being Mum, are chronicling their efforts to reduce and/or eliminate food waste in their households. I have read their posts with increasing discomfort for months now. I want to do the same, but I don't care much for change. I'm also bizarrely defensive about my grocery shopping habits. I get a little hostile if Doug tries to suggest that I should get a different brand of vegetable broth or buy a few less apples.
 

Well, I'm finally going for it! I am putting my own boundaries around it (naturally - since when do i ever do exactly what i'm told?), but I think it will be revolutionary around here. Once I have the routine figured out and the fridge cleared of all current crap, I will begin taking photos of any food that I end up throwing away. I will post those photos here and use my readers as my priests as I confess my wastefulness. (For the record, these Candy Corn Cookies are not being thrown out. They are just cute.)

Step 1: I am only buying the ingredients for one meal at a time. Too often have I bought produce several days ahead of a planned meal, only to find it rotted by the time I was ready to cook.

Step 2: I will not cook a new meal until the leftovers from the previous meal have been consumed. Too often have I found fuzzy leftovers in the fridge that I don't even remember cooking!

Step 3: I will not cook food that I do not intend to eat. This one is actually a bit difficult for me because there are (quite) a few things that I don't eat, but I know that Doug loves them. However, this leaves Doug in the position of having to eat all of the leftovers by himself. Too often have I thrown away food that only went bad because one person could not consume it quickly enough. I do recognize that I could just cook small portions of those items and I might do so from time to time.

Step 4: The children will be served leftovers. This one might seem like a no-brainer (ew. i just remembered how much i hate that phrase...), but here's what Leftover Night looked like in the Peeler house prior to this week: Doug - leftovers; Angela - maybe leftovers; Eli - frozen pizza; Lila - frozen burrito. The kids didn't eat the food when I served it the first time, so I didn't make them sit in front of it a second time. Well, that rationale is breeding poor eating habits and a (greater) sense of entitlement. Too often have I allowed my children to eat processed and non-nutritious food because I wanted to avoid an argument.

This may seem excessive or fanatical, but I'm not kidding when I say that one person (or maybe two people) could be sustained by the food that we throw away in this house. I can't stand it anymore. I will not throw out food that another person would literally kill for! I welcome anyone who wants to join me in this journey...

Food

 I have really been enjoying my time in the kitchen lately. I have taken pleasure in cooking for quite some time, but my endeavours have gradually turned toward baking (which i used to avoid) and vegan cooking. Okay, the Sauerbraten (pictured below) is neither baked nor vegan, but it was an adventure all its own. I was terrified that I was putting a great deal of cost and effort into a dish that no one was going to eat, but people liked it! They liked it!

 

I can't say that my husband is particularly enjoying my newfound love of vegan food. He would rather have a hunk of meat on his plate. I don't have a great deal of sympathy for him, however, as I know how often he goes to Chuy's for lunch with his co-workers. Chuy's, which I can no longer eat. Curse you, Doug Peeler! It's a good thing I like you... Anyway, I figure I'm doing him a favor by giving his body a break from the animal products when we eat at home.

 

The kids could not care less. Really. It's not like they ate the food that I cooked before anyway! And, as it turns out, Lila loves brown rice and quinoa. That's fabulously healthy! As for Eli, we are ecstatic if he eats one bite of food at dinner. I truly don't know how he maintains that delightful plumpness. BUT... it seems that a batch of homemade cookies can erase a lot of bad memories. Who can complain about Roasted Tomatoes Stuffed with Yellow Rice when there is a bucket of Candy Corn cookies in the pantry?

 

Well, okay, the kids can. But they forget quickly!

A Fish Funeral

Our family had a little fishie funeral tonight. Lila's dear beta, Snowflake, finally succumbed to whatever was ailing her. Many tears were shed. We laid her to rest in a small jewelry box, tied up with a golden ribbon. We gathered around the hole (lovingly dug by Dad, right next to Hurley's resting place) and said our last good-byes by the light of a camping lantern. This priceless conversation followed:

Doug: "Lila, do you want to say anything about Snowflake? That's what people sometimes do... when they bury a pet."

Lila: "No."
Me: "We could tell stories about her. Like the other day when she tried to jump out of her tank!"
[silence, then]
Lila: "She used to like to play hide-and-seek with us."
[Renee had to bury her face here, to hide a laugh.]
Eli: "Yeah, but now she can't. 'Cause she died."
Lila: "Yeah. . . . Can I get a beta baby now?"
Me: "Let's finish saying good-bye to Snowflake before we start planning her replacement."

Later, after we had come back inside, I was getting some pre-bed snuggles from Eli. He was thoughtfully twisting my hair when he said, quietly, "It's actuwy kinda sad."

Yes, baby. Death is kinda sad. Even when it's only a fish.

My New Favorite Words

I've been living gluten-free for one week now and I've learned several things. The number one thing being this: Many people have no idea what I'm talking about when I say "gluten-free". So here's a little education (my reference is The Living Gluten-Free Answer Book by Suzanne Bowland).

[Side note: I told Lila that she should ask Daddy for a nickel every time she hears Mommy say the words "gluten-free". She'll be rich before she's 10-years-old.]

Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye. If you are gluten-intolerant or have celiac disease, you cannot digest gluten. It causes a whole host of problems, many of which I have. To eliminate these problems and allow your body a chance to heal, you stop eating all sources of gluten.

That is much easier said than done since gluten is everywhere and I love most forms of it! Bread as you know it is off limits. I cannot eat Peproni Rolls or Cheesesteaks or flour tortillas anymore! Gah! Buuut, it is worth the sacrifice. And, most importantly, Dr. Pepper is gluten-free. If it weren't... well, I prefer not to think about that.

Anyway, I decided to go gluten-free for two weeks to see if I notice any changes in my body. I'm only halfway through, but I have already seen a dramatic improvement. I have dealt with debilitating fatigue (like, nearly every day) for all of my adult life. . . until four days ago. Honestly, it feels so good that part of me does not believe it can last.

I have also not had that bloated, over-full feeling all week (even though i've been eating almost non-stop). And suddenly, I can feel caffiene in my body. I have always been able to drink soda and/or coffee right up until I crawl into bed with no problem. Now I can't drink coffee in the evening anymore and even a soda with dinner might cause problems. (i'm assuming this means that my body was so messed up before that it was not absorbing all that caffiene, but i really don't know.)

My one big question at this point: Is Deluxe Tomatillo Sauce gluten-free?

No More Little Peelers

For those who haven't heard, we have officially decided that we are done with having children. It was, for me at least, a difficult decision. I mean, when I'm pregnant and right after my babies are born, I'm certain that I never want to go through that again. (and i question why the heck i went through it the first time!) After several months, however, the amnesia sets in and I start thinking longingly of pregnancy. [shudder]

This last time that I started to feel that way, I took it to God for an answer. I fully expected Him to tell me it was time to pop out another hit, but I was in for a surprise. The clear message was that we should have no more children. I couldn't figure why He would give me that answer, so I kep questioning Him and myself. (Is that reeeaaally what He said? . . . Yeah, it really was.)

Then I had an amazing time of communion with God during a church service where He spoke clearly to me on a few different topics, one of them being this one. The message (given by the Always Inspiring Ted Beasley) was on quitting - when you should, when you shouldn't, and stop complaining either way. He mentioned that one time when it's appropriate to quit an endeavor is when the end result does not justify the pain caused in the process.

And then it hit me: This was why God didn't want me to have any more children. Lila and Eli are well worth the pain that the pregnancies and depression caused. But God does not want me (us) to willingly, knowingly engage in that kind of difficulty again. It's not just my own pain that must be considered (that i can more easily overlook). There is also pain for Doug and those members of my family and friends who are so sacrificial and helpful during difficult times. And if we had another child, this time Lila would be old enough to really be impacted by my depression.

It was both a humbling and a warm feeling. Humbling to think that so much pain could be caused by my actions (getting pregnant, i mean - i know that i can't control the depression 'cause BOY have i tried). And it made me feel warm and loved to know that God cares for us and does not desire pain for us. I have two amazing children and my responsibility now is to raise them and teach them to love God and and pursue their passions.

At the same time, it was a difficult decision for me to accept. Part of me felt as though I were rejecting a child and telling him/her that they weren't worth it. I had to remind myself that I was not rejecting a child, I was just choosing not to create a child. It's a subtle, but profound, difference that's difficult to explain.

And now I'm at peace with that decision and Doug and I are trying to decide which one of us is getting "fixed".

Gladiators

I picked up a random movie last week from Redbox and it ended up being quite good! The movie is called 'Gladiator', it's from 1992, and it has nothing to do with the Romans. The main character is a guy who looks exactly like the Russian guy from Rocky IV. Oh yeah, and Cuba Gooding Jr. is in it too - came out the same year as 'A Few Good Men'. Anyway, it was unexpectedly good. (Angela rating: 7 out of 10)

Eli and Lila had routine check-ups yesterday. Lila was there for her 4 Year and Eli his 15 Month Check-Up. They both got immunizations, which involved a fair amount of drama. Eli cried, but that was expected. He cried, covered his head with his blanket, then got over it. Lila cried louder and longer. And she's still limping around today, claiming a sore leg. Otherwise, they both did a great job!

Sadly, the shots have left Eli sick today. He's got a fever and a bad case of Puny. It's just shy of noon and he's already on his second dose of Tylenol and his second nap. I was supposed to take Cookie and Charlie to the vet this afternoon, but I had to move that appointment to Thursday. We also won't be making it to the library. Oh well... Anyway, here are the kids' latest stats:

Lila
Weight: 32.4 lbs (25th percentile)
Height: 38.5 in. (25th percentile)
Body Mass Index: 50th Percentile

Eli
Weight: 22.0 lbs (20th percentile)
Height: 29.5 in. (10th percentile)
Head Circumference: 80th Percentile

Lila is 4 Years Old!

August

Wow, today is the first day of August! Lila is beside herself because it is now her birthday month. And now we'll have an even more difficult time explaining to her that tomorrow is not her birthday. This has been going on for weeks now. She'll ask when her birthday is and we'll tell her that it's, for example, three weeks away. Then she'll ask, "Is it tomorrow?" Speaking of three weeks away, I need to reserve our place at Kiddie Acres...

Reading lessons with Lila are going very well. We're taking it slowly, making each lesson last two days, and she's keeping up just fine. She can read a few simple words now! And I finally found a trick to keeping her attention on the work. Between each task (we do five or six per day), I let her run around and go down the slide a few times. She gets her crazies out and then gets back down to business. Yippee!

Excuse me, but I have to go now. I think I just heard Lila go out the back door and Eli is sitting on the inside, screeching at her. It's not that I don't trust her, but--

The Uncleaners Strike Again

My focus this week is on getting the play room unpacked, organized and cleaned up. As with all other rooms, I can only work on it for about 10 minutes at a time, but it's already going more quickly than I expected.

So, a little while ago, I went in and cleaned for a while as the kids played. I made a good dent in all the "stuff" that was littering the floor and felt quite proud of myself. I then came downstairs to take a break and left the kids upstairs. Lila, apparently, needed to vent some frustration.

I headed back upstairs a few minutes later and she met me at the top with: "I made a mess." [scowl scowl scowl] She then stomped off into my room, announced that she wanted to be alone, and shut the door. I explained to her that she could be alone, but not in my room and directed her toward her own bedroom. I then went to investigate the mess she claimed to have made.

Well, she wasn't kidding... She had totally trashed the play room. It looked worse than before I started! I calmly extracted her from her room and told her that she'd need to help me clean up the mess she'd made before she got to be alone. She put up surprisingly little resistance and we got the room back in order in about 10 minutes.

It's a wonder I get anything done around here!

South Phone Birthday

I wonder... now that I live in South Austin, how long will it take before I start to think that tie-dye is cool? That's one particular trend that I've never been fond of, but it's all over the place down here. Instead of taco stands on the side of the road, there are tie-dye stands. Okay, so really there are both, but I still find it odd. I wonder if anyone's ever tie-dyed a wedding dress...

My family members will be happy to note that I've started making phone calls more often! I am part of the 5% of women who hate to talk on the phone and I receive no end of grief over how infrequently I talk to some people. Occasionally, however, I tap into some vein of desire to stay connected to those I love and I resolve to actually speak to them. As of a couple of weeks ago, I made a list of six people (or sets of people) and I call one of them every day.

Lila's 4th birthday is coming up in one month and for once I'm not stressed over planning her party. That's because she pretty much planned it herself and all I have to do is implement it. Sweet! The only thing she doesn't know is what she's getting as a gift. She keeps saying she wants a teddy bear, but we're not too hot on that idea. The girl has stuffed animals coming out her ears. We have other ideas...

Long Overdue

It has been far too long since I updated this blog. I've been spending more time on other sites and I really must put a stop to that! Things have been completely insane around here.

Doug is in Japan right now on a business trip. He's been gone for just under a week and won't be back until Thursday. Our whole stinkin' family fell apart after he left, but I'll go into that more later. He's working hard at his new job with IDT, but finding it somewhat stressful. He's responsible for creating the roadmap for a whole new product line and that's not easy! He's been fairly stressed over all this buying and selling of houses too. We've already closed on the new house, we close on our current house July 6th, and we will all be glad once the Forsythe house is gone and done with too.

Lila is just getting over strep throat, but is nearly back to normal. She's having a bit of a tough time adjusting to all these changes, but she's a resilient girl and will be back to herself within a few months, I expect. She had her last gymnastics class today and handled it rather well. She's already talking about finding a new gymnastics school and a new teacher near our new house. The girl LOVES gymnastics. She also loves little tiny women (named Cinderella and Belle) and Pet Society on Facebook. I finally had to create my own pet on Doug's login because I got tired of sharing with her!

Eli is doing something new every day. He is SO close to walking. He just got his fifth tooth this week (my theory: it was the cause of the ear infection that he also had). He's starting to say a few words. His version of Mommy: Ama (AH-mah). It's way too cute! He also meows at the cats and says Lila, all done, night-night, and probably a few other things, but he refuses to repeat them for me. He's still got the biggest smile in the world and he still makes that awful raptor/predatory bird noise when he's angry or frustrated. He loves to put one toy inside another and has been very helpful with packing and putting things in drawers. In fact, there is one drawer that we've learned to check anytime something goes missing.

I would say that I've been great, but that wouldn't really be true. A couple of weeks ago, I had a nasty bladder infection that had me in bed with a high fever for two or three days. This week, I got the flu for the first time I can remember. Headache, fever, cough, sore throat, chills, sweats, body aches, you name it. I was completely incapacitated for four days, but I'm starting to recover now. I still sound terrible, but I feel well enough to take care of my kids again. Many thanks to Grammie and Papa Joe for coming up and helping while we were all puny. When I have NOT been laid up in bed with a fever, I have been trying to prepare for our move to the new house, which takes place... in four days!!!

So, to put it all together, Doug left for his business trip, and the next day I started coughing and Eli came down with a fever. Enter the flu and Eli's ear infection. The day after that, Lila developed a fever. That would be the strep. Ack! Crazy!

I know this wasn't the most eloquent post, but I'm still really not feeling well, so it's the best I can do for now.

Pesks

The kids and I just got home from the library. While we were there, Lila was wearing her princess shoes and complaining that they hurt her feet. Once we got in the car, I said to her, "Good. Now you can take those pesky shoes off!"

Her reply: "Why are there pesks all over them?"

Good question, Lila! I don't know.

San Antonio and a New Job

We spent this past weekend (Thursday to Sunday) in San Antonio and had LOTS of fun! As you can see from this photo, our biggest adventure was a trip to Sea World. I have always wanted to go myself and there was no question about whether Lila would love it. Animals and water - what more could she ask for? Well... princesses, maybe... Nonetheless, we had a blast!

We saw shows (watching Shamu and the other killer whales gave me goosebumps!) and rode rides and Lila even got to play in the little kiddie water park. All three of us have pink faces and poor Lila has burned shoulders because the one thing we forgot to bring was sunscreen. Oops! I figured Eli was young enough that he'd be oblivious to the animal shows, but he was just as transfixed as Lila (though he had no idea what he was seeing). He even laughed at the sea lions!

And now we are entering real life again. Today is Doug's first day at IDT! I spoke with him earlier and got the update on his day so far. It's not that exciting, really. He's been filling out paperwork and doing all sorts of other first-day-of-work things. Here's the part that is exciting: After spending 12 years in Cube Land, he has his own office! Woo Hoo!

Oh my...

The things coming out of my child's mouth just keep getting better and better. Just a few minutes ago, I was trying to steer Lila toward getting in the bath and she told me she was... I don't now - something that involved the word 'practicing'. I said, "Practicing, eh? Well, what you need to be doing is taking your clothes off, going potty, and getting in the bathtub." Her response:

"Let me tell you what's wrong. I'm riding my tricycle." Here, she holds up a fist and then sticks out her thumb. "I'm not taking off my clothes." She sticks out her index finger. "I'm not going potty." She sticks out her middle finger. "I'm not getting in the bathtub."

It was so funny (but mildly inappropriate) that I nearly fainted, trying to keep the laughter in. I told her that she could have five more minutes and then she would be doing all those things, then ran off into the bathroom so that I could laugh!

Oh dear.

This photo, by the way, is of a picture taken of ME when I was a small child. Seemed appropriate to go along with the story though.

And speaking of things coming out of my children's mouths... Eli has started saying words! So far he says 'all done' (ah-dah!), 'Lila' (lala), and 'night-night' (nuh-nuh). Too. Freakin'. Cute.

Dinner

The kids and I just finished up our dinner: vegan chili, cornbread, and corn. I didn't buy vegan chili on purpose and it's really not very good. I also did not think about the fact that I was making cornbread AND corn. Oh well. I can only pay attention to so many things at one time.

Anyway, about halfway through the meal, Lila turned to me and told me she was taking bites of corn and cornbread together, "because they taste similar." Her own words. I just blinked at her a few times and then said, "okay".

Later, I was holding Eli and he had his sippy cup. He reached forward and started banging it on the table. I leaned him back and told him 'no'. Lila demonstrated that he could smack his hand on the table. I said, "Yes, hands are fine, but hard objects are not okay." Lila replied, "Yeah, and soft objects are good too."

"Soft objects"? Seriously, where did this kid come from?!? Is she 3 or 30?

Massive McDonald's Misadventure

Do you ever have days when you make a mistake or a poor choice at every turn? Well, that has been my day. It's like the worst-played game of Operation ever! And I won't even bother about the first few hours. I'll just start with mid-morning, when we left the house to go to the gym.

I have, as has been stated before, an addiction to Dr. Pepper. On the way to the gym, I was contemplating how I might satisfy that addiction with the remaining $3 in my weekly lunch budget. Definitely not enough to buy lunch for both Lila and myself (or even just for myself), but enough to buy a Dr. Pepper somewhere. My first thought is that maybe they have Dr. Pepper in the soda machines at the gym (who thought that was a good idea, anyway?). If so, that would be an easy fix.

If not, then I could just stop by a fast food place on the way home and pick one up. Of course, it would be difficult to get a Dr. Pepper for myself and tell Lila that she can't have anything... Well, one step at a time. We got to the gym and I quickly ascertained that there was no Dr. Pepper in the vending machine - only Coke products. Bah humbug! So I took the kids on back to the Kids' Club.

I dropped off the munchkins, with a heavy dose of drama from the 3-year-old, who absolutely refused to eat the string cheese I brought for her (she suddenly didn't like string cheese) until we got to the gym where they do not allow food in the Kids' Club. [sigh] Yes, feeling the need for a D.P. fix, all right. I worked out, sweated a lot, and went back to pick up the kids.

I started chatting with one of the girls who works in there - I'll call her Erialc - who mentioned that McDonalds is currently selling any size drink for $1. Ooh! And the large drink cups have a coupon code on them for a free Redbox rental. Even better! The plan is now firm in my mind. I will get a large Dr. Pepper for myself, some 99 cent thing for Lila, and then pick up a free movie from Redbox (to be watched after the kids go to bed). Perfect!

There was a McDonald's right there in the same parking lot as the gym, so that's where we went. I got in line for the drive-through and the phone rang. I answered, chatted for a few minutes (long line), and then hung up. Since I had been on the phone, I was slightly unfocused when I got to the speaker to order. For reasons known only to the mischievous little elves inside my head, I panicked when the guy asked me what I wanted.

I ended up ordering a large Quarter Pounder with Cheese meal and a Kids' Meal for Lila. No no, Angela! Stop! . . . Too late. I'd already pulled forward. Doodie! Okay, not the worst thing I've ever done. I think we'll survive. So I payed and took my food and drinks and pulled forward. There is a Redbox at this McDonald's, but there was already a person using it and I really wanted out of that busy parking lot.

No problem. There are two more Redboxes right by our house. One at another McDonald's and one just across the street at a Walgreen's. I'll just go to the Walgreen's (it's less annoying to get to). As I was driving home, I started munching on the french fries because I was quite hungry. Now, I've never been a fan of McDonald's fries because I think they are too thin and hard. I've had some that could have been used as weapons. I've learned to tolerate them, however, particularly when I'm hungry.

A few bites in, I realized that these fries had been sitting in the warmer for a while. That means they were slightly overcooked and quite over-salted. Ugh. Not good. Oh well, I ate one or two more (the over-salting, while pickling my mouth, was also making me crave more and more of the wretched things) and then reached for my nice, large Dr. Pepper.

That was the nastiest Dr. Pepper mix I have ever tasted! Ick! It was more like medicine than soda. I was already 2/3 of the way home at that point, so there was no going back to ask for something different. I considered stopping at the McDonald's by my house and asking them to exchange it, but that seemed... uncool, I guess. Either I would be deceiving them (by omitting the valuable detail of where the original soda was purchased) or they would refuse my request.

[double sigh] I thought maybe it would taste better once it watered down a bit. I consoled myself with the thought that my burger, at least, would be good. There's not much that can go wrong there and I do like Quarter Pounders with Cheese. I went on to Walgreen's and pulled up to the Rexbox. After looking through most of the movie choices, and not being overly impressed with any of them, I spotted the Tinkerbell movie.

Lila has recently fallen in love with Tinkerbell, though I don't know why or how. She has never seen all of Peter Pan (and hadn't seen any of it at all until very recently) and she didn't even know this new movie existed. Anyway, I saw the movie and thought it would be a nice surprise for Lila, who has been sad and out-of-sorts all day (due, naturally, to doug's absence).

I chose the movie and waited for the coupon code to come up. First, the machine wanted me to swipe my credit card and I figured it needed that to find my account before I could use the coupon. So I went through all the prompts... and then it charged me and vended the movie without ever asking for a code! Wha-huh?!? Upon closer inspection, I discovered that this coupon code is only good at Redbox machines that are located at McDonald's locations. Well, doodie again!

Whatever. By this point I just wanted to get home and eat my lunch before Eli fell asleep in the car or got too fussy. I showed the movie to Lila, who was properly excited, and then we went home. After going through the needlessly protracted process of getting all of us and all of our stuff into the house, we sat down to eat. At last!

I opened my burger box and discovered that I had forgotten to ask for NO ONIONS. Curse it all! I'm allergic to onions! Aaaaaagh! Fine! I'll eat the stupid burger with the stupid onions and the stupid overcooked fries and the stupid nasty Dr. Pepper! It was all nasty and left a gross taste in my mouth that I only managed to get rid of with coffee. And all I wanted was a nice Dr. Pepper!

I could go on, but I think that's really quite enough...

Lila Tales

Lila and I just did a fun little St. Patrick's Day activity: handprint rainbows. Honestly, I'm not sure what makes that a St. Patrick's Day craft, except that we talked about St. Patrick before and during the activity. At any rate, it was fun. I decided to put some music on while we worked and Lila requested The Wiggles. I agreed that The Wiggles would be a good choice, and so we painted and listened.

This CD has the Wiggly version of 'Music Box Dancer' on it. When that track came on, Lila said, "This is a very quiet song and a lovely song to go to sleep."

Indeed. Lovely. :)

We also put messages to Daddy/Doug on our rainbow paintings. He left for his trip to Taiwan this morning and Lila was quite sad. My message was: We miss you, Daddy! Lila's message was: Don't be sad! Now, is that a message for Daddy or for herself...?

Oh, and this photo is one I took of Lila last night during her post-bath insanity. Something strange happens to that girl when she's in the bathtub and she always comes out a little crazy! Clean... but crazy.

At the Library, earlier today...

I'm typing this at the Austin Public Library and I have a headache. The reason that I am able to sit and type out a blog post at the library is that Eli is not here with me. Just Lila. Eli does not allow us to enjoy trips to the library because he thinks it's boring. Thankfully, Doug came home right around the time I was thinking of loading us up to com here. We decided on a gender split. The men went to the home store to get supplies for fixing up the old house and the women came to the library for new books.

The reason I have a headache is... pollen, I suppose. Spring has sprung in Austin, which means it's the time of year when I have frequent dull headaches and don't sleep well because I'm having so many vivid and bizarre dreams. I do love some things about spring though. Like how all the plants and trees suddenly have little green leaves on them or beautiful purple or pink blossoms. It's happening so early this year that we didn't have a chance to prune in our yard!

Doug spent a few hours at the old house yesterday, cleaning and doing yard work. The kids and I stopped by there after lunch, to say hello and take a peek. Doug had told me what a mess the place was after our tenants moved out, but I wanted to see it for myself. I kind of wish I hadn't because what I saw just made me angry! I don't think those guys cleaned anything, the entire time they lived there. It is repulsively dirty, things are broken, and there is an infestation of Evil Beasts in the kitchen.

Mmm... I think I'd better stop talking about it because I'm getting upset again...

Random

I just overheard the following coming from one of Lila's school friends while playing make-believe outside:

"We miss our daughter. [fake crying] She died like Darth Vader. [more fake crying]"

Other fantastic things said by 3-year-olds today:

Lila: "I love you, Mother."
Me: "I love you, too, Daughter."
Lila: "You are my most special Valentine ever."

...and...

Lila: "All my little kitties are called Meshacks."

I love 3-year-olds.

Mother

Since Lila was a baby, she has called me Mommy. I couldn't see her calling me that forever, but it's the name I decided to start with. Sometime in the past year, she started alternating between Mommy and Mom. That is totally fine with me. I kind of like being called Mom. In fact, with both kids, whenever we'd talk for them, we'd have them referring to us as Mom and Dad. It just happened that way. I think that Lila's adoption of Mom came from hearing us talk for Eli and having him refer to me that way.

The odd thing is that, sometime in the past week, she has started calling me Mother. I have no idea where she came up with that and I find it unexpectedly disconcerting to be referred to in such a way. Especially by my 3-year-old. Picture this: Yesterday, as we were getting into the car at the gym, Lila turned to me and said,

"What are subways like, Mother?"

How random is that?!? I quickly recovered from my confusion (and the urge to laugh) and answered her question. For once, she was satisfied with my answer and just went on with her business as though it were perfectly normal for us to have had such a conversation. Strange child.